Michigan an Early Contender for 2022 Four-Star Running Back Antonio Martin

After a dominant sophomore season, Antonio Martin has picked up numerous Power 5 offers, but he says his Michigan scholarship was special.

Over the past several months, Fairburn (Ga.) Langston Hughes four-star running back Antonio Martin has emerged as a name that schools need to know in the 2022 class. Last fall, Martin compiled over 1,500 rushing yards and 17 total touchdowns in what was a productive campaign, but the prospect has recently landed offers from Alabama, Florida State Penn State, Ole Miss and Michigan and is hoping to accomplish more in 2020.

Overall, Martin, who stands at 5-10 and 205 pounds, says that the current recruiting dead period has slowed down his recruitment quite a bit but that he is still doing his best to evaluate his 10-plus college offers.

“With me being a 2022, coaches can't really contact me how they want to, so visits would have helped a lot,” Martin told Wolverine Digest. “With certain coaches, I have their numbers and I talk to them and try to feel it out.”

Out of all the schools interested, Martin says that he is in contact with Georgia Tech, Louisville, Michigan and Florida the most. Martin holds offers from each of those schools, and he is gradually learning more and more about each program.

But when Michigan entered the picture for Martin, it marked a milestone moment in his recruitment and high school career.

“That was really one of my dream schools, one of the top schools I was wanting,” Martin said. “I was shocked [to receive an offer]. It has just stood out to me since I was younger and I would watch. Back then they had a quarterback that was No. 98, so that stood out to me and then I've been keeping up with them since then.”

And while Devin Gardner was a selling point for Martin early on, the four-star recruit has kept tabs on the Wolverines and would like to take a trip up to Ann Arbor as soon as the dead period is over. Currently, the dead period extends until the end of August.

“I'm definitely trying to get up there, as soon as they let us back [on visits],” Martin said. “I would like to go to Florida and Florida State, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Michigan. There is really a lot of schools. It's tough to narrow it down, but I'm definitely going to Arkansas too.”

From a gameplay standpoint, Martin is a strong downhill runner that is difficult to bring down off first contact. He has quick feet and can extend plays with his leg drive, but the Michigan target is looking to boost his flexibility in hopes of adding a dose of explosivity to his game.

“I feel like if I can get more flexible, I would be able to do a lot more stuff that needs quickness,” Martin said. “I've been working on getting my knees up, bending and staying low. There has been a big improvement from last fall to now. With being more flexible, I can explode a lot better.”

It may sound difficult to improve upon a 1,500 yard, near-20 touchdown sophomore campaign, but Martin is set out on that mission. Look for other schools to jump on board and extend an offer to the talented '22 running back sooner rather than later.

Michigan has offered 20 running backs in the 2022 class but have stayed in close contact with Martin lately. How many players should U-M take at that position? Any early favorites on who the staff should pursue? Let us know!